Adventures in Domesticity: More About Mom

Friday, May 08, 2009

More About Mom – HOTM Meme May 8, 2009

For yesterday’s Thankful Thursday meme, I blogged about how great my mom is. But, of course, one blog post can’t do justice to my mom. So, for today’s Heart of the Matter meme, which is also for Mother’s Day, I’ll add to the list of cool things about my mom. You should check out yesterday’s post first, then read on:

1. My mom is insane about having a clean house. She passed this on to me, but I’m almost recovered from it! Three years of constant headache will do that to you. The advantage, though, is that I learned very young how to clean house. Even though my house isn’t actually clean, you should know that it could be.

2. My mom works third shift and loves it. And I think I have inherited her night-owl tendencies. She is an Intensive-Care nurse and really enjoys working the middle of the night shifts. I used to hate working in the middle of the night, but it was always because it was after working a full day (as a Family Physician). As a stay-at-home mom, I have found that I prefer to stay up until 11 or midnight and then sleep in until about 9 or 10am.

3. My mom is not at all a picky eater, but I am an incredibly picky eater (despite Mom’s best efforts to make me an omnivore). Despite this, she does not like cooked spinach, but one of my favorite foods is spinach pie which includes (you guessed it) cooked spinach. HA!

4. My mom graduated from college two weeks before I did (and with a higher grade point average – but who’s comparing?). I drove from Baton Rouge to South Florida for our joint graduation party. There were about 70 people at my parents’ house for the party. My dad designed the cake himself and the decorator did a great job with it. It had a picture of a nurse on one side with “To Work” and (1965-1990) on it for my mom and a picture of a graduate with “To Med School” and (1985-1990) on it for me. It was a great party. (I’m not sure my mom was all that thrilled with everyone knowing that it took her 25 years to get her degree, but considering that she raised two kids, worked several jobs, and managed a home while getting her degree, I don’t think anyone thought a bit less of her for taking a non-traditional route to a degree!)

5. My mom encouraged me in my education. She always said that I could go as far as I wanted in school. So, I got my M.D. – why settle, right? Mom also discouraged me from getting married until I finished my education until Mr. Math Tutor and I decided we wanted to get married when I was in med school and then it was OK. I figure she didn’t want to take any chances on Mr. Math Tutor getting away.

6. My mom is very competitive. This is not always good. She has been known to chase people around our house when they have the audacity to beat her at Trivial Pursuit. (Sorry, Mom!)

7. My mom (and dad) is (are) incredibly supportive of homeschooling. I feel so bad for other homeschoolers who feel like they have to prove to their families that they aren’t ruining their kids by keeping them at home. Our situation is the opposite. I think we’d hear cries of protest if we tried to put our kids in public school! It is very nice to have the grandparents support our choices, to ask the kids what they’re learning, and to be as involved as they can in the kids’ educations.

8. My mom was supportive of my career when I was working as a physician, but she’s just as supportive of my being a stay-at-home mom (even though she’s as unhappy as I am about the migraines that are keeping me completely out of the workforce right now). My sister-in-law and I are both professionals who are now staying at home with our kids. She is doing it completely by choice, while my choice was made by my health issues. In any case, having a supportive mom makes life so much easier than it would otherwise be.

9. My mom is beautiful. Mostly it’s because of her gorgeous smile. I hope I’m still half that pretty at her age.